Welcome to the new series, which will analyse the text of Genesis 5. I’m publishing this on Agloria rather than the Tower of Adam newsletter as this will be a longer series and will slightly veer away from theology. I will start by looking at all the different interpretations of the text and then move into my take. This is an original idea and could have far reaching implications.
Forgive me, I must cover the basics to lay a foundation.
Scripture is inerrant. Our omnipotent, compassionate God foreknew and intended each Word to be where it is. This is the basis from which the audience, humanity, is able to draw conclusions. Scripture is dense with layered meaning, including Genesis.
Contrast is one of the necessary means of scripture interpretation. Comparison between two items shows their differences. What is missing can be equally important to what is present.
Setting up the differences between Cain and Seth is crucial; it opens a door. Scholars and theologians have noted these differences for millennia. As the previous commenter noted, the differences are noncontroversial and uncontested. Personally, these were not strong in my mind until now.
Being theologically literate is a critical piece. Having no agenda save an agenda of truth seeking is also.
Forgive me, I must cover the basics to lay a foundation.
Scripture is inerrant. Our omnipotent, compassionate God foreknew and intended each Word to be where it is. This is the basis from which the audience, humanity, is able to draw conclusions. Scripture is dense with layered meaning, including Genesis.
Contrast is one of the necessary means of scripture interpretation. Comparison between two items shows their differences. What is missing can be equally important to what is present.
Setting up the differences between Cain and Seth is crucial; it opens a door. Scholars and theologians have noted these differences for millennia. As the previous commenter noted, the differences are noncontroversial and uncontested. Personally, these were not strong in my mind until now.
Being theologically literate is a critical piece. Having no agenda save an agenda of truth seeking is also.
I eagerly await this series! I enjoy your take on things and your last one you thought would be controversial didnt feel that controversial to me.
So i’ll grab some popcorn and wait for the controversial bits while you build up to the big reveal!
God bless!
It started because I wanted to do a series on Genesis 5 and look at all the different takes. And then add my own.
I didn’t think my view would yield much. There was preliminary academic work done in this in areas the early 1970s, but it didn’t come to much.
But where as he was very mathematical in his approach, I looked at it from an ancient Hebrew perspective. And it produced something very interesting.
I put it on here as I think those who will be most interested are not into theology. And so I need to take time to lay the theological groundwork.
I don’t think you would find it controversial, just a very interesting idea. But other academic disciples may find what I say ‘heretical’.